Walking Kentucky

Physical activity and good mental health are essential for preventing chronic diseases. These are serious 

public health concerns that require effective interventions to encourage positive behavior change. 

Walking Kentucky is a community campaign designed to increase physical activity and promote health 

awareness in Kentucky. You don't need any special equipment or location to incorporate physical 

activity into your daily routine. By joining Walking Kentucky, participants are given the tools to lead a 

more active lifestyle.

The eight-week walking challenge aimed to increase participants' regular physical activity and improve 

health outcomes for Kentucky citizens. The Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, and 

Trimble Family and Consumer Sciences Agents collaborated to implement a 417-mile Walking Kentucky 

Challenge as an innovative strategy to encourage movement among Louisville area residents.

Through this program, participants were empowered to improve their health behaviors by making 

lifestyle choices that increase physical activity. Seventy adults participated in the program, with eighty?seven percent of them feeling they achieved their fitness goals. Ninety-seven percent reported 

exercising for thirty minutes, three or four times a week or more, after becoming aware of the benefits 

of regular physical activity.

At the end of the program, participants shared their positive experiences, such as losing six pounds, 

feeling more motivated to move, achieving more steps in a day, and enjoying friendly competition with 

co-workers.